The biggest question remaining:

[Catfish]

After watching the play of the O-line last evening against the Texans, I believe that the biggest question remaining for this team is at Left Guard.

It is clear to me that Johnathon Cooper is nowhere near what he was prior to his injury. I really wish that I was closer to this situation, so that I could say with confidence that he simply needs more time to shake off the rust, and regain his confidence. I don't know if the answer to that is so simple however.

Coming back from an injury like his, is tenuous at best. Coming back as an unproven rookie has got to be much tougher still. We do know that he had his knee drained recently, and that says a lot to me about whether or not he is healed from his broken leg. In this game, everyone has to play hurt at some time or other. While it is one thing to play hurt, it is completely different from playing injured. One has to wonder if Cooper is still injured, but trying to play at this juncture.

Cooper had so very much hanging on his reputation coming into the league. He was an absolute lock to be an immediate starter, and some even had him penciled in to become a perennial pro-bowler, (all before he played a single snap in a regular season game). Alas, that was before the injury.

Right now, Johnathon Cooper is struggling. I would suspect that he is suffering from the weight of all the anticipation heaped upon him by everyone around him as he came out of college. Simply carrying that load is enough to shake one's psyche-----but to have the injury to deal with, (at the time that it came); and to have missed his entire rookie season as a result, has got to be weighing very heavily on him right now.

Getting his trust and his confidence in his own abilities to come to the fore is very necessary right now. Playing hurt is not helping matters. If he is still playing injured, he may never be what he was once thought to be. Let's hope that BA and all his assistants have the stuff to bring Cooper through this time of uncertainty, and make him into what everyone once thought he could be. Lets all hope that he just needs time and reps in order to get back to where he once was.

In any event, I can't think of a more capable offensive coaching staff to help him through this than the one BA has assembled. The knowledge and expertise is there to help him. Lets hope that he can channel that knowledge and expertise to help him overcome the doubts and fears that surely must be haunting him right now. Lets hope that time heals this like it heals most other things. Right now it is disconcerting to see him be the weakest link in the O-line.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

Seems to me that he may just be getting back to full strength and conditioning still. I will be a little more worried about this if he doesn't show improvement over the next couple pre-season games. As for getting the knee drained that could just have to do with putting a lot of strain on the knee when it wasn't very used to it for quite some time now due to the injury healing and rehab time.

 

[Mulli]

If only there were 3 more preseason games to watch and see how coop does...

 

[D-Dogg]

If that was struggling or as another put it, an awful performance, then give me some more.

Whiffed on JJ Watt but picked back up and pushed his guys around. Got rolled up and looked hurt, limped and shook it off, blocked air on the next play and went down and played well after that.

He has played in a couple of preseason games and is recovering from a leg injury that appears to have a mental scar left...going down and feeling the pain but shaking it off and playing was a great thing IMO.

Did he look like the guy we drafted? No. Not yet. Should we have expectations he should? Not IMO. That's what the preseason is for...knocking off rust, absorbing the play book and fixing mental hurdles.

I thought it to be a good first step with lots of room to improve.

 

[Catfish]

If that was struggling or as another put it, an awful performance, then give me some more.

Whiffed on JJ Watt but picked back up and pushed his guys around. Got rolled up and looked hurt, limped and shook it off, blocked air on the next play and went down and played well after that.

He has played in a couple of preseason games and is recovering from a leg injury that appears to have a mental scar left...going down and feeling the pain but shaking it off and playing was a great thing IMO.

Did he look like the guy we drafted? No. Not yet. Should we have expectations he should? Not IMO. That's what the preseason is for...knocking off rust, absorbing the play book and fixing mental hurdles.

I thought it to be a good first step with lots of room to improve.

You might be right about the good first step, but I still find it disconcerting to see that the guy, who everyone thought was a lock to succeed, is having issues in getting back to form after an injury. Where he shows the least progress is in the run game right now. That was his forte before, (especially his down field blocking).

Good first step or not, he is still the weakest link in our O-line, (currently that is). Here's hoping for more positive steps to come. Nice to see you keep'in it positive Dogg.

 

[BullheadCardFan]

^^^

Agree with D-Dogg.

After a rocky start and getting knocked down I thought he played well. Was he rusty, yes. But he seemed to get his confidence and get stronger as the game went on.

Curious to see how he builds on this for the next game.

 

[GuernseyCard]

Given that he hasn't played a meaningful game since his last in College, I'll avoid hand wringing at this point.

 

[D-Dogg]

You might be right about the good first step, but I still find it disconcerting to see that the guy, who everyone thought was a lock to succeed, is having issues in getting back to form after an injury. Where he shows the least progress is in the run game right now. That was his forte before, (especially his down field blocking).

Good first step or not, he is still the weakest link in our O-line, (currently that is). Here's hoping for more positive steps to come. Nice to see you keep'in it positive Dogg.

In the run game he has to push, which will come. since that is his strength, I don't worry about that.

I think it is important to remember that this is basically his first preseason still, and he's gonna make mistakes. He's got a mental wall to climb, and the NFL game to master. I was ok with his first live action in a year. Did I want more? Hell yeah!! But I didn't see an awful performance either. If cooper's progression is the biggest concern we have, I better save up for SB tickets.

 

[MoeIsBetter]

On a positive note, Paul Fanaika looked great. He had the assignment of going 1-on-1 with JJ Watt a couple times last night and made the most of every opportunity. Bobby Massie looked really good. Veldheer looked good at times, but got pushed back pretty good early by Clowney. Line looks much improved though. If Cooper can continue getting better every game, they could be special.

 

[BullheadCardFan]

Bobby Massie looked really good.

With all the other things happening in the game I forgot to check in on Massie.

Didn't even hear his name called which is great.

 

[CardsFan88]

He looked like he was gimping around out there, which isn't good. But I think it's way too early to be really concerned. A little sure. But I don't expect Cooper to be at his best until next season anyways. I just hope by the end of the season he can get back to say, 90 percent. Right now I'd say he's about 60 percent. My outlook is that I hope the rest of the preseason and the first half of the year he rounds back into football shape/strength. I just hope he doesn't get injured between now and then.

That's my main concern. We're sitting HB because we don't want to risk injury, but we are doing the opposite with Cooper. It's clear to me that he's still not ready. Which is concerning, but also should be expected. Though maybe the knee drain is making him look worse. But that can also go back to ramifications for bringing him back too soon.

It seems to me he needs to work on leg and core strength. Some of that will come naturally as he plays, but I think it would be prudent for the team to put him on some intense core program and hopefully prevent an injury. We don't need to chew up his knees trying to round him into shape. He needs a targeted program, which imo, should take priority above anything else he's doing, even practice. I'll take him being less in-sync with everyone else for an extra couple of weeks if it prevents a needless long-term injury.

 

[CardLogic]

If that was struggling or as another put it, an awful performance, then give me some more.

Whiffed on JJ Watt but picked back up and pushed his guys around. Got rolled up and looked hurt, limped and shook it off, blocked air on the next play and went down and played well after that.

He has played in a couple of preseason games and is recovering from a leg injury that appears to have a mental scar left...going down and feeling the pain but shaking it off and playing was a great thing IMO.

Did he look like the guy we drafted? No. Not yet. Should we have expectations he should? Not IMO. That's what the preseason is for...knocking off rust, absorbing the play book and fixing mental hurdles.

I thought it to be a good first step with lots of room to improve.

That was my take also. I thought it was a good thing on the play the he had the same leg that was broken rolled up on in a similar fashion to when the injury happened, and you could see that it scared Coop. But he got up and shook it off and stayed in the game. He needs to work through understanding that his leg is healthy and it's not likely that a re-injury (which is in his head) will occur.
Also there were several plays in which rather than shuffling his feet, Cooper lunged and left his feet. This past week, Arians spoke of Cooper being on the ground too often, for as good of an athlete as he is. Again, I think this is a mental rather than physical problem.

The remainder of the pre-season will be critical for Cooper! Let's hope that he continues to progress and gets the injury out of his head.

 

[BullheadCardFan]

Again, I think this is a mental rather than physical problem.

The remainder of the pre-season will be critical for Cooper! Let's hope that he continues to progress and gets the injury out of his head.

Cooper needs to keep improving and get his head straight. Hopefully he does not get re-injured along the way.